Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-04-07
A BIG BLAZE In BOSTON.
one building Entirely Gutted and Other.
Damased-Post Office Square at One
lime In Great Danser-A Loss of t,v.,
sl5o.OOO in a Few Hours.


BOSTON, April s.
serlous fire started at SO Milk ,treet st
1890 this afternoon which svent ,bs, h',;,s
ing in few minutes and endanue,sJ ~ .
large building at the corner of Mill .t,eo,
and Post Office square. Two alarm, vera
sounded at once.
ihe nre started on the second floor occu.
Pleo by William J. Wilson, bookbindar
rheh nrst discovered it was in the rear Of
.he store but strong draught took the fame,
10 the front Of the building. They rap;jlv
spread to the third floor. occupied by q i
Rand Co bookbindtrs, and thence To the
TOP noor, occupied by the Wright Po,ter
PRINTING Company. The 6re found plenty "a
Ieed upon and burned fiercelv. Firemen
were crlven from the interior of the building
anu some OF them narrowly escaped burning.
AS soon as the windows in the front and
rear were broken the flames rushed with
great rap'dity from one end to the other.
shoo.ing several yards into the street. So
qulcK was their spread that several ladders
caught fire before they could be moved.
AT IL 45 the smoke was rolling in dense
clouds from the burning building and was
spreading toward Post Office square. By |
O'Clock all attempts to fight the fire from
wltnin the walls were abandoned, the flame,
having practically enveloped the entire build
ing Several lines of hose were plavinp into
the windows on Milk street at that hour from
ladders and the street below. Tho fire wa.
then bursting from the roof in the rear and
had also spread to Bath street, narrow way
leading dlagonally from Post Office SQUARE
The flames then burst out of all the IN I'd
story windows on Bath street and rapidlv
made their way to the roofs of the BUILDINGS
IN that direction. 1t was excee dinghy diff.
cult to raise ladders to the windows in Bath
street on account of the narrowness of the
thOroughfare.
AT l. the fire was apparently getting
foothoid 10 the building next below on Milk
street, NO. l00. Every effort was made bv
the hremen TO prevent its spread in this di
rection, and by hard work it was soon con.
trolled at this point Geo. X Paul & Co.,
machines and castings, occupy the lower
hoor and basement of No. SO Milk street
Their stock was worth about 500, 900, but it
Is Impossible to fix the damage The secop1
floor. where the fire originated, is occupied
chiefly by 0. j. Rand Co., bookbinders.
whose stock was large and whose loss will
probably be total. The other occupants
whose property will be nearly or quite tota |
loss are: Allen. Governor Co., Amos
Pond, A. A. Sanborn, steam engineer. Mvs.
tic Man'fg. Co., makers of emery cloth,
paper, mucilage. etc., Wright & Peter, State
printers.
On Bath street one large concern ia almost
entirely burned out. 1t is ]. H. Osgood &
Co., manufacturers of printers rollers. Their
stock greatly added to the fury of the fire.
At No. 100 Milk street the principal occu-
pant is VIM. j. Wilson, bookbinder, who
has large stock. The building is of gran
lite, four stories high, and owned by Lewis J.
Cabot, whose insurance is $50, 900.
The total 1nss ill raach eyar $lSO 000 &c
which Wright & Potter suffer to an extent of
nearly 100000 Their insurance is said to
be only $33, 900.
At 45 the fire was well under control and
there was no danger of its doing further
dsmage. Several more buildings in the
vicinity of tie postoffice were damaged by
smoke.
LArER-Messrs Wright & Potter, who are
the State printers, carried a large stock and
all the State work is burned Fifteen presses
valued at nearly $4,000, were completely
ruined. Some 30 different State documents
were being printed and were destoyed in
volving loss of thousands of pagas of com.
position. Their loss is estimated at about
$40 ,000 insured for S75 900 or $50 OOO O.
J. Rand & Co. lost on stock $751; 900; insured
for $1,000 I hey also lose books, pamphlets
ETC., which were being bound for outside par
ties valued at $4,000, upon which the IN
surance is unknown. G. X. Paul & Co. car
ried stock worth s2O,OOO damaged to the
extent of $4,000; insurance $40 600. Wilson
Bros. lose $1,000; insured. The losses of
Allen, Cove & Co, A. A. Sanborn, steam
engineer, and the Mystic Mfg. Co. manu-
facturers of engravers' sundries. will aggre-
gate $4,000; fully insured Messrs. J. H.
Osgold & Co., manufacturers of printers
rollers, loses about $1,000; insured. The
damage to the building is estimated at $4,000 !;
insured for $4,000.
The cause of the fire is not known. Sew
eral iremen received slight injuries during
the progress of the fire.